Means for controlling adjustable combination stop-actions in self-playing organs.



G. KINDER. MEANS FOR CONTROLLING ADJUSTABLE COMBINATION STOP ACTIONS INSELF PLAYING ORGANS.

A 11 9 1 O 3 6 H H J a G .t n mu a P m 5 Rm E I D B L I P N w T A w L PA vm 0O 9 1 0 1 .1

- v H. G. KINDER. I MEANS FOR CONTROLLING ADJUSTABLE COMBINATION STOPACTIONS IN SELF PLIAYING ORGANS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 1912.

' 1 101 937. I I Patented June 30,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEEN 2.

' ofstops may be set in advance of the play UNITED STATES PATENT o FIoE.HALSEY G. KINnEn, or CHICAGO, ILtINoIs, ASSI-GNORTO w. w. KIMBALLCOMPANY,

- or'onrcneo, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING ADJUSTABLE COMBINATION ever-narrows 11v SELF-PLAYING oRGaNs.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HALsEY G. KINDER, acitizen of'the United States, residing at Chicago, in the countyof Cookand State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvementsin Means for Controlling Adjustable Combination. StopActions inSelf-Playing Organs, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relatesto the art of selfplaying organs 'and hasreference more particularly to automatic means for controlling the stopactions' of such instruments.

Self-playing organs wherein theindividual stops or fixed. combinationsthereof are thrown into and out of action by pneumatic motors controlledfrom the tracker range and perforated music-sheet are known. Many organsare equipped with mechanisms known as adjustable combination stopactions whereby adjustable combinations ing of a piece of music, and maybe successively brought into action at the required timesthrough theagency of a manually op-.

erated controlling device.

The object of the present invention is to render self-playing organs ofthis type more completely automatic through the provision of anautomatic means goverened by the tracker range and musicsheet forcontrolling the actuating mechanisms of the sev eral adjustablecombination stop .actions at the proper times; and a further object ofthe invention is to provide, in 1nstruments of thischaracter, amanuallycontrolled means whereby the said automatic control of the actuatingmechanisms of the adjustable combination stop -actions may itself berendered operative or idle, according to the wish of the player of theinstrument, so that the latter may employ either the manual control orthe automatic control "of the adjustable combination stop actions, asdesired.

To these ends the invention, in its broadest aspect resides in theprovision, in a selfplaying organ having the usual tracker range andperforated music-sheet and one or more adjustablecombinationstop-actions, of means controlled from one or more additional orauxiliary ducts leading from the tracker range and c'o'respcndjngadditional or auxiliary perforations iii the music-sheet Specificationof Letters Patent. Patented June 30 .1914; Application filed February 5,1912. Serial No. 675,840.

for controlling the actuating mechanism of one or more adjustablecombination stop actions in proper order or sequence; and the inventionfurther resides in a manually controlled mechanism for throwing on oroif such automatic control, leaving it to the option of the performer toemploy either the automatic control or the usual manual control.-

In the accompanying drawings I have presented a conventionalillustration of a mechanism in which my invention may be embodied;Figure 1 being. a top plan view,

in horizontal section through the tracker range and its containing box,Fig. 2 an elevation in section through the several interconnected andcooperating devices shown in 111g organ which are old and known, and towhich my present improvement is applied, and with which it mostintimately coop-- .erates, 5 designates the tracker range, 6 theperforated music-record sheet, 7 and 8 the receiving and deliveryspools, respectively, of the music-sheet, and 9 the containing box orhousing having a sliding glass front 10, within which box a suitablewindpressure of several ounces is maintained when the box is closed, and amnsic+sheet has been put in operative relation to the tracker range.

' At 11 are shown some of the usual drawstops, the pulling out of which,through the individual stop actions controlled thereby,

places different sets of pipes or reeds into communication with the mamwind-chest of the instrument, as usual in this class of instruments; and12 des gnates the ad ustable prises essentially a series of slides 13connected by levers 14 to the rods of the respective draw-sto s 11, saidslides 13 carrying pivoted doub e-ended trips 15 that are adapted to beset to positions favorable for effecting the drawing out of previouslyselected draw-stops 11 through mechanism hereinafter mentioned, by meansof depressible channel-shaped followers 16 that extend transversely overthe series of slides 13 and are normally upheld by springs 17. Each ofthe followers 16 (of which there is one for each combination stopaction) is depressed bya pivoted cam 18 overlying the same, said cambeing actuated bythe pulling out of one of the draw-stops 12 which isconnected tothe pivot shaft of the cam by an arm-.19 and is normallyheld in retracted position by' a spring 19. The slides 13 are actuatedin both directions (according to the positions occupied by the trips 15carried thereby) by a mechanism comprising a pair of pivoted wipers 20and 21, the latter of which has an upwardly extending arm 22 connectedby a link 23 to the upwardly extending arm of a bell-crank 24. Thewipers 20 and 21 are caused to swing simultaneously toward or away fromeach other through the agency of a connecting link 25 pivotallyconnected to the wipers 20 and 21 below and Each drawstop 11 is providedwith its own slide 13, and this latter is provided with as many pivotedtrips 15 as there are adjustable combination stop actions in theinstrument; each of the adjustable combination draw-stops 12 actuatingone of the trip-setting followers 16.

' Describing now the mechanism for selectively actuating the adjustablecombination stop actions last described, the bell-cranks 24 areconnected by links 26 to individual levers 27; and from the oppositeends of these latter depend thrust rods 28 each normally urged outwardlyby a spring 29 into engagement with the movable side of a vpressure-actuated device herein shown as a small pneumatic 30. The lowerend of each rod, 28, when forced inwardly by the expansion of itspneumatic 30, directly overlies a horizontal lifter-bar 31 that iscommon to the-several rods 28 and the several com bination stop actionsoperated through said rods 28. The lifter-bar 31 is engaged by one armof a bell-crank lever 32, the other arm 4 of which is connected by alink 33 with another bell-crank lever 34-, the opposite arm i whichlatter is engaged by a stirrup 35 on the upper side of the bellows 36 ofa pneumatic motor 37. This motor has supply and exhaust passages 38 and39, respectively, that are controlled by valves 40 and 41, respectively,said valves being connected by a rod or stem 42 so as to operatesimultaneously, the closing of the one efi'ecting the opening of theother, and vice versa.

At one end of the motor casing is a chamber 43' to which wind iscontinuously admitted through a supply pipe 44 tapping one side of thesaid chamber. WVithin said chamber is located a pneumatic 45, themovable side of which is connected to the supply valve 40 of the motorby a link 46. It will be noted that the area of the movable side of thepneumatic 45 is greater than the area of the valve 40, and,consequently, when the pneumatic 45 is deflated, the valve 40 is opened,and the motor is energized. However, the motor is normally maintainedidle through the agency of a mechanism which admits pressure to thepneumatic 45 that balances the pressure on the outer surface of themovable side of the pneumatic, as hereinafter e'xplained.

Each-of. the pneumatics 30 communicates by a pipe 47 with a wind-box 48,the pipe 47 leading into a vertical passage 49 which communicates at itsupper end with the wind chamber 50 and at its lower end with an exhaustpassage 51 leading to the atmosphere. Controlling the passage 49 isavalve mechanism comprising valves 52 and 53 on a valve stem 54, thevalve 52 controlling the communication between the wind chamber 50 andthe pipe 47, and the valve 53 controlling the communication between thepipe 47 and the atmosphere. The upper end of the valve stem 54 isconnected to a diaphragm motor 55 having an area greater than either ofthe valves 52 and 53. The diaphragm is actuated to close valve 52 andopen valve 53 by pressure admitted to the upper side of the said motorthrough a pipe 56 that communicates with a controller box designated asa whole by 57. The pipe 56 leads into a horizontal passage 58 in saidcontroller box, one end of which communicates with the atmosphere andthe other end of which leads into a wind chamber 59. The ends of thepassage 58 are guarded by valves 60 and 61, respectively, fast on acommon valve stem 62, the arrangement being such that whcnone of thevalves is closed the other is opened, and vice versa; and the outer endof the valve stem 62 is connected to one arm of a lever 63, to theopposite end of which lever is connected a manually operable knob 64.The valves 60 and 61 are normally maintained in the positions shown by aspring 65.

Referring now to the mechanism through which the motor is normallymaintained idle by keeping the supply valve 40 closed and the exhaustvalve 41 open, 66 designates another wind box that is suitably valved tocontrol the communication of pressure to the pneumatic 45 of the mainmotor. The

guarded by alternately acting valves 68 and 6901011 3, common valve stem70; and cmmtinicating with the passage 67 between the upper and lowerends thereof-is a pipe 71 that leads into the pneumatic 45 of the mainmotor. The' valves 68 and .69 are normally in the positions shown, beingmaintained in such position by a spring 70 that is of sufficient forceto oppose the pressure from the wind box on the upper side of valve 69.It

will thus be seen that in the normal position of the parts the pressurefrom the wind chamber of the box 66 passing through pipes 71 andexpanding: the pneumatic 45 will normally maintain the supply valve 40of the main motor closed, and hence will maintain the motor in idle orinactive condition. The action of'this mechanism which maintains themain motor idle is, however, interrupted when one of the combinationstop actions is to be actuated; and this is accomplished through theagency of the pneumatic which, in its expanding movement The operationof the mechanism thus far described may be briefi stated as follows. An.stop or desired com ination of stops 11 is rst drawn, the combinationis then set b drawing out one of. the stops 12, and the set, the numberof suchcom'binations being wardly the knot. 64

previously drawn stop or stops 11 are then pushed in (excepting suchstop or stops as it may be desired to use in the next or a succeedingcombination). An additional stop or combination of stops 11, if desired,is then drawn, that combination set by drawing another of the stops12,.and the stop or stops 11 thus drawn pushed back; and soon until allthe desired combi'nations'have been limited, of course, by the number ofadjust- .brought into action, the operator, presses inthat pertains tothat combination. The chamber '59 is supplied with pressure (ashereinafter explained) and this cuts oif the supply of pressure from thechamber 59 to the pipe 56 by closing the 'valve 61, and permits the pipe56 to vent to the atmosphere through the outer uncovered end of thepassage 58. I pressure on the upper side of the diaphragm 60 Thisrelievesthe motor 55, so that the pressure in the wind chamber 50,acting on the underside of said diaphragm motor, raises the valves52 and53. This admits pressure from the wind' chamber 50 to the pipe47 andthence to the pneumatic 30, the movable side of which action in themanner already described.

latter shifts the appropriate. rod 28 to a position directly over thelifter-bar 31. The

same movement of the pneumatic 3'0, acting through the-bell-crank 72,draws the valve 68 to its seat and opens the valve ,69, thus venting thepneumatic 45 through its supply tube 71 to the atmosphere, Thereupon thepressure in the chamber 43 supplied through pipe 44 opens the valve 40and closes the valve 41, and enters and expands the motor bellows36,which latter, through the described connections, raisesthe lifter-bar 31and thus actuates the combination stop action pertaining to the firstcombination. 7

Precisely the same series of operationsoc- 'cur when the second knob 64is manually actuated to bring into action the second combination ofstops previously set up, and so on; it being noted that the sameoperation of the wipers which draws out the stops of anycombinationdraws inwardly, or returns to idle position, the stop orstops of the previous combination.

Describing now my present improvement and *its cooperative relation .tothe mechanisms already set forth, I provide in'the tracker range, andpreferably at one or both ends of the latter, one or more auxiliaryducts, depending-upon the number of adjustable combination stop actionson'th e instrument, such as those indicated at 73.

These passages, which are controlled by suitably located holes or slots6 in the music- .sheet 6, communicate through pipes 74, with ducts 75"formed in the lower side of a pair of wind-boxes 7 6. In each ofthelatter is a diaphragm motor' 77 communicating with the 'duct 75 andactuating a T-valve 78,

which latter controls the communication of a pipe 79 with the windchamber 80 of the wind-box and with a vent passage 81 formed in thewind-box. The duct 7 5is provided at one end with the usual bleed-screw82 to vent the pipe 74 when the auxiliary ducts 73 of the tracker rangeare closed by the paper musicsheet. The pipe 79 extends from thewind-box 76. into the chamber 59 of the able combination-stop actions onthe instru- F ment. When' the first combination is to be a manualcontrol.v

From the foregoing it will. be seen that when one. of the auxiliaryapertures 6 of themusic-sheet registers with one of the auxlllary. ducts73 of the tracker range,

pressure from the box 9 will pass through pipes 74, actuate thediaphragmmotor 77,

cut off communication of the wind-chamber 80 with pipe 79 and vent thelatter pipe to the atmosphere. Since theyalve' 61 is normally open, thisvents also the pipe 56,- and causes the actuation of thecombination stopmechanism, as follows: 83 designates each of a' pair of valve casingsprovided with ducts 84 and 85 with which the interrupted sec-' tions ofthe pipe comiminicat-e, both of said ducts leading into a common valvechamber-86 in which is a T-valve 87 actuated by a diaphragm motor 88 andcontrolling the communication between the ducts of the pipe 90 with thewind-chamber and the exhaust passage 9% are a pair of valves and 96 on acommon valve stem 97. Connected to said valve stem is a rod 98 on theouter end of which is amanually operable knob 99; and a centrallypivoted lever 100 is connected at one end of the rod 9Sand at itsopposite end is connected to another manually operable knob 101. \Viththese parts .in the position shown in Fig. 2, the pressure from windchamberti, is cut elf from pipe 90, and consequently the valve 87 isopened and pipe T l is unobstructed, and the parts are in correctposition for the peration of the automatic control of the adjustablecombination stop actions. lVh'en, ho'w ever, knob 99 is pushed inwardly,pressure from the chamber 92-3 acting through passage 92, pipe 90, andduct 89, operates the diaphragm motor 88, closing the valve 87, and thuspreventing the passage of pressure through pipe 7e-l-to the diaphragmmotor 77. 'if'his, obviously, leaves the mechanism in correctconditionto be operated through the manual control from the knobs 64:, withoutany i t ri erencc from the automatic control.

it; will thus be seen that my inventionren- (lcrs more completelyautomatic than has heretofore been possible the performance ofself-playing organs which are equipped with adjustable combination stopactions. In preferred practice, the several stop combinations used'atditferentpoints in a given musical production are printed on the back ofthe music-record sheet, preferably'at the initial end thereof, so thatthe performer, before positioning the roll in the instrument, mayreadily draw and set the several stop combinations as indicated on theback of the sheet; and thereupon, having positioned the roll in theinstrument, he need only start the instrument in operation, andthe-several stop combinations will be successively brought into anddrawn out of action at the appropriate times through the mechanism ofthe present invention. In case, however,

the performer prefers to introduce the several combinations of stops atpoints or periods of his own selection, he may do this manually byoperating the manual. knob (i l, having first pressed inwardly the ofiknob 99, which cuts out the automatic control of the present invention;or he may draw out individual stop or stops 11 manually.

I- am aware that it has heretofore been proposed to effectautomatically, through mechanism controlled from the 1 tracker range,the drawing of individual stops and even of fixed combinations of stops;but, so far as I am aware, my present invention is the first toprovidefor the automatic control from the tracker range and music-sheetof adjust-able combination stop actions; and hence, realizing that thismay be performed by a great variety of specifically differentinstrumentalit-ies,I do notlimit the present invention to the particularmeans herein shown and described for this purpose, except to the extentclearly indicated in specilic claims.

I claim:

1. In a self-playing instrument of the character described, thecombination with atracker range and perforated music-sheet, of acombination stop action, mechanism for actuating the latter, andautomatic means controlled, by the tracker range and music-sheet forcontrolling said actuating mechanism. i

2. In a self-playing instrument of the character described, thecombination with a tracker range and perforated music-sheet, of acombination stop action, mechanism for actuating the latter, manuallyoperable means for controlling said actuating mechanism, automatic meanscontrolled by the tracker range and music-sheet for control ling saidactuating mechanism, and manually operable means for throwing into andout of commission said automatic controlling means.

a music-sheet having a cooperating auxiliary aperture, of a combinationstop action, a pneumatic motor and connections therefrom to said stopaction for actuating the latter, means normally maintaining said motoridle, and means set in action by pressure admitted through saidauxiliary aperture andduct for interrupting the action of said lastnamed means.

5. In a self-playing instrument of the character described, thecombination with a tracker range having an auxiliary duct and amusic-sheet having a cooperating auxiliary aperture, of a combinationstop action, a pneumatic motor and connections therefrom to said stopaction for actuating the latter, a pipe leading from said auxiliaryduct, a normally open valve in said pipe, means set in action bypressure admitted through said auxiliary aperture, duct and pipe foradmitting fluid pressure to said motor, a. diaphragm motor for closingthe valve in said pipe, and manually operated means controlling theadmission of pressure to said diaphragm motor.

6. In a self-playing instrument ofthe character described, thecombination with a tracker range having an auxiliary duct and amusic-sheet having a cooperating aii'x'iliary aperture, of a combinationstop action, a pneumatic motor and connections there from to said stopaction for actuating the latter, means normally maintaining saidmotor-idle, pressure-actuated means for interrupting the action of saidlast named means, a valve mechanism controlling said pressureaetuatedmeans, a diaphragm motor for actuating said valve mechanism, a wind boxand pipe leading therefrom to said diaphragm motor, a valve in said\vind box controlling the communication of said pipewith the latter andwith the atmosphere, a diaphragm motor controlling said valve andadapted, when actuated, to vent said pipe to the at.- mosphere, a pipeleading from said auxiliary duct of the tracker-range to said last nameddiaphragm motor, a normally open valve in said last named pipe, adiaphragm motor for closing said last named valve, and manually operatedmeans controlling the admission of pressure to said last-named diaphragmmotor.

I-IALSEY G. KINDER. VVitnesses SAMUEL N. Pom), DAISY O. THORSEN.

